Short-turn gear.



PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

R N A M w RB wn BTF m m n P P A a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Arman):

PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

I s gnnn'rs-bnnz'r a.

' mmrron, Robert lffiowmn.

R H. BOWMAN. SHORT TURN GEAR.

nm 0 9 1 4 a B n I D n L I r I 0 I T A U I L P P A WIT IIE 88E 8:

' ROBERT HENRY BOWMAN, OF CANON CITY, COLORADO.

SHORT-TURN GEAR.

Specification 0t Letteralatent.

Application filed February 2!, 1908. Serial No. 417,380.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

and in which my short turn gear mechanism forms a 006 erative part of the complete .motor vehic e construction described and shown in thesaid application;

My prescntinvention comprehends, generally an improved construction of short turn gear mechanism having the parts so designed whereby the truck wheels can be positively and uickly turned'to the desired positions, 'in w ich each wheel has a separate drive meansadapted to be thrown into or out of action .at the will of the operatoran'd in ,which the several lever actuated means are s'o disposed and adapted for such action that r the o erator canset them into or out of ac-- tion hand or foot power and to quickly "lock't e same-to'their adjusted positions.

' In its more subordinate features my present invention consists in the peculiar and novel 'arrangeinentof arts "and combination thereof all of which Wlll be hereinafter fully described, specificall pointed out in the appended claims and ustrated in the accomor dash board end of a motor vehicle equipped panyingdrawings in which,

Figure 1, is a perspective view of the front with my improved short turn gear mec anism, said viewillu'strating the correlative positions of the different lever 'mechanisms' all under'the control'of a single 0 erator for steerin the gear mechanism an for actuatin t e transmission gear clutch and brake mec anisms.

' frame with the short turn gear mechanism.

Fig. 4, is a central vertical transverse section I of the same taken on the line 44 oil Hi 3.

F1 5, is a horizontal "section thereof ta en sufistantiall on the line 5.5 on Fig. 4'

, Fig.0, is a, 'etailed view that illustrates star 0 that is pendently secured to t Fig. '2, is an inverted'perspec tiveview that illustrates the general arrange-- ent of my .sh'ort'turn gear mechanism and the drive chain. connections that join-the the general arrangement of the levers L.

Fig. 7, is a vertical section of the clutch mechanism that forms a part of my complete gear mechanism taken substantially on the line 77 on Fig. 5. Fig. 8, is a detail perspective view of the rockable connection for t e upper and lower front bolster members hereinafter referred to.

In the practical application of my present invention the same is combined with a motor vehicle main frame in such manner that the short turn ear mechanism may be conveniently coufp ed with the drive or transmission gearing o the complete Inotor vehicle.

In.tl1e present case the short turn gearing is entirely mounted on the front truck in the manner generally disclosed in Fig. 2, which also shows enough of the motor vehicle main frameto locate driven gears e-e that are actuated at times, through the will of the operator and which are coupled through c air 1s with a pair of sprocket'chain wheels J J 'on the vertical shafts or bolts j". that carry the bevel gears k, that mesh with and drive the bevel gears ion'the divided front axle members 'M, M each of which carries one of thefront truck wheels asshow-n.

The main frame of the motor vehicle ineludes a platform a. that is mounted ;on the side bars (1 0. of the main frame and which frame that is located under the main plat form. and in the lon itudinal plane thereof.

This sub-frame inc udesl a bed portion formed with a central socket f that exten s its entire length and in which the upper bolif? or latformjframe is rockably held an or sue purpose the bottom of the'socketf isin the nature of a bottom bolster a" whose uper face is rounded in opposite directions om the center as is clearly shown in Fi 8, by reference .to which it Wlll also be noticed that the u per bolster a? is rockably sustained on t e lower bolster a by the slotted. straps or links 51 that are secured to the bottom bolster a '-(see also Fig. .4), the bolts 52 that pass throu h the slots 51 on the-links 51 serving'to. ho d the upper bolster in place and at-the same time allow the upper bolster to have a slight vertical play so as to avoid ed upon the outer held spaced apart there I a d rive mechanism also Jr" with the 7 sprocket wheel tiltalily' nmunted on the] binding of the several parts while the front truck is passing over uneven ground.

To further provide for taking up the shock the side bars (t-(L on the upper frame engage cushion or spring bearil'igs a that are mountends-of the bolster c as clear y shown in Figs. 3 and By connecting the parts as described and in the manner shown, n'otects the steering post as it keeps the bolster a in its proper place at all times and for brnunng it back to' its center when it rocks, the sl nt-ted ear connections also serving to 'l'eep the bolster a. from jumping out of place.

designates another or lower-bolster that coacts with bolsterc which also seats 'in the slotwayf in the bed frame portion fandit is fixedly su )ortcd on arectangular sectionf ol' thcsulilrmne l and the latter also in cludes a lower rectangular section f that corresponds with the u )per section f* and is lrom but is made fastto it w the lan er bolts f and nuts f as clearly shown In fig. 3. g

f--f'" designate hanger bolts or shafts tliat extend down through the end members of the two sections f and f that constitute the frame F and through a bottom bar that extends across the full length of and the said bolts f' support the said bar f and the wheel drive gearing and the clutch n'u clutnisms that cooperate therewith.

ln my 'construction of short turn gearing, each of the front truck wheels is mounted on ail-independent axle member and'each has independently operated and each driven through a chain drive respective. chain wheels J of the wheel drive devices.

Each of the wheel drive gearing or devices comprises a hub g that is mounted on the corresponding hanger bolt f'" at a point'between the lower cross barf and a cross bar f" made fast to the end members of the lower sectionf' of the sub-frame F as best shown in Fig. 3, by reference to which it willbe noticed bevel gears lt--h are loosely mounted on the said hubs thatfm'esh. with beveled gears 11 on the hubs of the adjacent wheels I and thesaid gears It are held to engage the wheel gears tender all adjustments of the. end wheels.

Each gear I! has a pendent hub 71- formed with a number of concentrically arranged clutch sockets It for receiving the clutch lugs on the combined, clutch and driving J that receives lrough the-endless chain k" that takes around the drive gear a, as bel'o'rc stated.

S'prm'kctwheel J also has a pendent hub formed with an annular theliil'nrcated end l-ol' groove to receive 'theclutch lever l. )ottom cross bar'ol the frame, see Fig. '7, and which extends tothe frame F,

able hand wheel as'shown.

motion has a pawl I that is released from the hand end that locks the said rod Z to'a-posit'ion for holding the clutch j to its engaging'po'sition', the said rod 1 also having a foot and'en aged member I for depressing it as clear y shown in Fig. 1.

By providinga clutch mechanism and combining with it a drive mechanism for each of the front wheels I,- as shown and described, it follows, that either one or both of the said wheels may be readily thrown into or outiof the gear sion gears e e driven in any approved man ner, andthe operation of controlling the run of the drive gears for the wheels quickly effected at the will of the operator.

Each wheel I, is mounted on a separate front axle section M M, and each of the said axle sections consists of a stub axle m. on which the wheels are loosely mounted and a flatportion m that is held to oscillate in the horizontal plane between the' upper and lower sections of the frame F and for'such purposethe axles M M are fulcrumed on the, hanger bolts f asshown. .At the inner end,- each axle section M M, has a segmental gear m? and the two opposing gears m are arranged to mesh with a single gear n mounted on the lower end of a steering post or rod N thatextends upwardly throughthe bed or platform and carries at the upper end a.suitis normally locked from rotary movement sons to hold the axle members M and-M to their'adjusted positions and such locking. of the shaft'i's effected by a latch orpawl member 7) pivotally mounted on the Fig. engaging with any one of a series of radial notches or grooves on the under side of the cross bar f, the sai l pawl p being also joined with the actuating rod 7) that extends through the. platform of the frame, and joins with ahand. lever steering wlleel drawing. I 1

The. lever p" has a drop-or latchinemlper-p on its outer end-that normally drops down to the position, shownon Fig. 2, audit has shoulders p so that when raised the lever member 11- it is locked, to form a solid part of the lever and when thnsad just-ed, a lift pull on. the member pswings the leverupwardly and thereby 7 rod to bring the pawl- 1': on the. lower end of the steering shaft 'N into for holding the he steerin roll 1N shaftns clearly. shown in the said shaft from turning To vehicle bed,

with the power transmis lower end of the rod N, se e 3, and projects radiallytherefrom. for

p that is fulcrumed in the in line with raises the a locked position a posed concentrically about the fulcrum of the axles as clearly shown in Fig. 7.

R desi nates the reach bar for Jullllllg the front and rear truck. frames, and which ma v be connected to the rear truck frame (not shown) in any approved manner. The front end 1' of said bar is loosely journaled in pend- -ent bearings s-s on the front truck frame 20.

members f as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. From the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings the detailed construction and the general manner of operation of my invention will be readily understood. I

It will be noticed that by arranging substantially the entire gear mechanism below the platform on which the operator stands, the'action of the entire steering means is controllable through the manipulation of the main wheel 0 in the shaft N, and the levers L operated by the members ZZ" and since these are located in close proximity to the main steering shaft N, ample room is left on the platform for the lever mechanisms that control the action of the transmission gearing for transmitting different speeds of motion. In Fig. 1, I have illustrated three sets of lever mechanisms designated 1-.23, mechanisms 1 and 2 being used, for example, for controlling the normal and low speeds mechanism No. 2 for controlling the high and full speeds of motion and mechanism No.3 for throwing the entiretransmission or drive gearing out of operative mesh with the engine or main drive shaft, it being understood that the said speed transmission gearingthe clutch and lever'mechanism. ma be of any approved construction, preferab y how-' ever, such as is disclosed in my copendlngaplication above referred to, since my present nvention is a part of the com lete motor vehicle mechanism shown in t e said covpending application.

By reason of the construction and arrangement of parts, it is manifest that should it be desired to throw out of gear with the drive mechanism either or both of the front wheels,

the operator by first ulling up the rods 1 to release latches l and then pulling up the levers P-l rocks thelever (or levers L,) and thereby'moves the clutch sprocket'wheel J out of engagement with the gear h and To restore the clutched engagement of the clutch sprocket wheel J and gear 71, i tis only necessarv for the operator to press down the levers Pby ste ping on the lever member 1 which brings the pawl l to lock with ratchet port 1'' to hold the ports and a locked together.

To steer the front truck, the operator manipulating the lovers p and p to lower rod 71 and disengage and p from circular rack q and turns wheel 1 gears 11, m to the two axle members M.l\l.. and since the wheels loosely mounted therein are always in gear with gear I). during their movement in an are about the shaft X. it follows that during the operation of turning rotation is still imparted to the wheels, it being understood that in making short turns, the pivot wheel is thrown out of gear with the drive mechanism.

.Having thus'described mvinvcntion, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1-. o

1. In a short turn gear, the combination with the main frame of the vehicle, a pair of driven gears mounted thereomaml the front truck wheels loosely mounted on their respective axles; of a separate gear connection that joins each of the wheels with their respective drive gears, each of the said connections'ineluding a shifting clutch device, for throwing the wheels out of gear with their respec tive drive gears,-means on the front truck frame for oscillating the wheels together but in reverse directions and other means on the said front truck frame for independently actuating the clutch devices.

2. A short turn gearing for motor vehicles, a pair of front truck wheels each loosely but inde endently mounted, means for oscillating t e wheels in unison but in reverse directions, a pair of driven gears mounted on the vehicle frame, separate gear connections for joining the said drive gears with their respecas desired, which through m transmits the desired motion v opposing axle sections fulcrumed on the front end of the frame to oscillate in the horizontal plane, means on the frame for oscillating the axles together but in reverse directions, a wheel loosely mounted on each axle having a hub gear, a clutch gear for each wheel hub gear, means on the front-end of the frame for throwing either or both of said clutch gears into and out of operative connection with the hub gears, each of said clutch gears being c'rupled with one of the drive gears on the leaves the wheel I with gearsiand h to run l main frame. loose (see Fig. 7).

4. In. a short turn vehicle gear, the combi- .nation with vehicle fr posed steer; a gear at the ower end, of a axle sections, held to oscilla tal plane, fulcrum bolts th axle sections having segin for meshing with the ge post, a wheel looselymoun member having a hub gea mounted on each of the ful drive couple nectin with t with the loose bolts, and clutch device and' disconnecting t e drive gears. 5. In a short with the main f dis osed' horizont an l means on the mm ting motion to the post mounted therein h aming, a centrally dismounted drive'gears, of a pair of axle memaving bers fulcrumed centrally of their res ective pair of opposing horizontally drive gears, a wheel oosely Y teon the hOI'lZOIlmounted on each wheel section, havlng a erefor, each of the hub gear in constant mesh with the horizontal ental gear portions gear, said axles each having, a segmental on the steering member at the inner. end, and a steeringfpost ted on each axle. mounted on the main frame centrally o a gear loosely frame, a gear on the lower end of said post crum bolts, and' that meshes-with the segmental gears on the ears mounted on the main frame axles and a means for locking the post to its gears on the fulcrum rotatable adjustments a drive mechanism eratively concoupled with each horizontal drive gear and e loose gears means for operatively connecting and disthe ' connecting said drive mechanism from said turn gear, in combination horizontal. drive gears as set forth.

a pair of oppositely mounted drive gears, Witnesses:

n frame for transmit- J. T. CORWIN, pair of horizontally Mrs. H. R. MCQUOWN ROBERT HENRY BOWMAN. 

